The repair and service of electromechanical equipment often entails the replacement of a capacitor having a specific capacitance value. In view of the diversity of brands and product lines, even within a particular industry such as HVAC, it is difficult for a service technician to stock a sufficiently broad range of capacitors to meet all replacement needs. Accordingly, it has been found to be useful to employ a single capacitor assembly that can be configured to provide a variety of capacitance values.
Markarian—U.S. Pat. No. 4,408,818 discloses a multi-sector capacitor, with the terminals on the cover arranged to provide the minimum spacing needed to prevent arcing. Jumper wires are connected to the terminals to obtain the desired capacitance.
Stockman—U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,394 discloses a multi-sector capacitor having an exposed, insulated jumper connecting the sub-capacitors. The jumper may be cut by a repairman to obtain the desired capacitance value.
Ward—U.S. Pat. No. 7,365,959 B1 discloses an assembly having multiple capacitor sectors or elements, which can be configured to achieve the desired capacitance by turning a dial switch mechanism, which is mounted on the cover.
Stockman—U.S. Pat. No. 8,531,815 B2 discloses a capacitor with multiple elements that can be connected to provide a variety of capacitance values by connecting terminals on the cover of the capacitor with jumper wires. A barrier cup assembly with fins extending between adjacent terminals on the cover is provided to prevent arcing. In one embodiment, four wound capacitor elements are oriented vertically and two wound capacitor elements are oriented horizontally in the head room above the vertically oriented capacitors.
Huber—U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,058 B1 and Gordin et al. —U.S. Pat. No. 7,848,079 B1 disclose assemblies having multiple capacitor elements arranged in the housing to improve the volumetric efficiency of the unit. Huber employs three round capacitors arranged in a “star” configuration and placed in a triangular shaped housing. Gordin et al. employ the combination of a relatively large base capacitor, which occupies substantially all of the volume at one end of the housing, and multiple secondary capacitors, which occupy the remaining volume in the housing. The capacitor elements of Gordin et al. are “substantially round in cross-section.”
Despite the prior art developments in the field, there remains a need for a configurable, multi-capacitor assembly that is easy to manufacture, employs multiple capacitor elements, achieves improved volumetric efficiency, conforms to the space limitations for replacement capacitors, is readily configurable in the field, and meets all applicable safety requirements and UL test standards.